Dog of the Day - 10th May 2013

Today's Dog of the Day is one of Henry's two Cavapoo friends (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel crossed with a poodle). He's been spoilt today - seeing the first one, Abby, this morning, and the second, Gilbert, this afternoon. He is now fast asleep on the sofa, hopefully exhausted from all the frenetic playing they do. Gilbert is only 6 months old, but very outgoing and playful. Sometimes the playing between him and Henry gets a little hectic, sometimes Henry gets a little irritable and snappy with him, and usually Gilbert ends up trying to hump him! Tomorrow Gilbert's getting his first haircut, so this may be the last time I see that cute teddybear-like little chap with his puppy mop!

Dog of the Day - 9th May 2013

A couple of days late, but today's Dog of the Day is Henry (again)! On Tuesday it was his 1st birthday and I took him out to see my parents. We went for a lovely walk in the Chess Valley near Little Chalfont and he enjoyed running through the bluebells while I tried to photograph them! Happy Birthday my darling little man!

Dog of the Day - 6th May 2013

I decided to go somewhere different today, partly to avoid the picnickers, and partly hoping to find some bluebells to photograph. I googled to see if anywhere in London was any good for bluebells, and found a site that said Barnes Common had some. So off I went on the No. 22 bus, dog in tow, to Barnes. Being a Bank Holiday the roads were empty so it took no time at all.

I found a few bluebells, but only a few scattered bunches, not the profusion that I was hoping for. I did, however, see loads of cocker spaniels, which more than made up for the lack of flowers! I chatted to a woman for ages as Henry played with her dog, a female orange roan cocker spaniel called Angelica. She's only a month older than Henry, but smaller and had the most wonderful smooth silky coat (whereas Henry's a ball of woolly fluff). I couldn't get a picture of her alone, as she wouldn't sit still, but got a couple of her playing with Henry, as well as a brief stop for breath!

Dog of the Day - 5th May 2013

Today's Dog of the Day is Whisper, an incredibly shiny black working cocker spaniel puppy. She's about 6 months old, and her whole body wiggles when she wags her tail. And just like my little cocker, she is rather partial to sticks! Very sweet little girl.

Dog of the Day - 4th May 2013

It's a bit late for the 3rd, so today's Dog of the Day is for the 4th of May. And it's a lovely Westie that Henry was in puppy class with, many moons ago now (they're almost a year old now). This is Mac, and a real sweetie he is too. Now the summer has suddenly sprung upon us the picnickers are out in force and the dogs are restricted to leads (or fiercely watched!) to stop them enjoying the feasts (otherwise they'd be annoying all of these people who only realise that the park exists in the summer - grrrr!). Little Mac seems pretty well-behaved though, and sat nicely for a few seconds for the camera :)

Dog of the Day - 2nd May 2013

Last but not least is the fourth of the cocker spaniels I had the pleasure of walking with during my trip to Iceland. Today's Dog of the Day is Skotta, another of Chelsea's puppies, who was staying with JP while his owner was on holiday. She'd had a haircut, so looked a lot smaller than the others, but she's also got a much smaller build. She too is adorable, just like the rest of the brood! Here she is blowing in the wind along the coast at Grafavogur, running through the remains of a couple of containers, and finally at home in the warmth with JP.

Dog of the Day - 1st May 2013

It's May, the sun is finally shining and the leaves are beginning to return! Now it's a pleasure to be out and about with the dog. Not that its without its problems - with the return of the sun and warmth comes People Having Picnics. And a Dog Off Lead + People Having Picnics = Trouble (dog running up to people having picnics to try and get their food). It's going to be a bit of a pain, especially since we dog walkers kind of feel that we own the parks, since we've been out there all autumn, winter and spring, come rain, snow or shine. Ho hum, I'm sure we'll manage.

So to distract Henry from the nearby picnic were a few dogs - not many out this afternoon. He played with Bailey, his Rhodesian Ridgeback friend who is now about 9 months old and just a bit too big for proper playing. One of the others on today's afternoon dog scene was the beautiful, fluffy, happy and friendly Angus, a 2-year-old golden retriever, who I met last summer when Henry was a tiny pup. In spite of his size, he plays well with smaller dogs and stops short of them, rather than landing on top of them. He looked as if he was smiling as he stood posing for the camera in the late afternoon sun for me.